Mindbender (UFO)

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"Mindbender"
UFO episode
Episode no.Episode 14
Directed by Ken Turner
Written by Tony Barwick
Editing byMike Campbell
Production code25
Original air date13 January 1971 (1971-01-13)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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List of episodes

"Mindbender" is the fourteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Tony Barwick and the director was Ken Turner. The episode was filmed from 30 June to 10 July 1970 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 13 January 1971. Though shown as the fourteenth episode, it was actually the twenty-fifth to have been filmed. [1] [2]

Contents

The series was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company. [3]

Plot

During a period of intense sunspot activity which leaves Moonbase and Earth vulnerable to alien attack, a UFO hugs the lunar surface in an apparent effort to strike at Moonbase. However, it suddenly veers away and self-destructs. Interceptor pilots Conroy and Dale are sent out to investigate; they find nothing to explain the alien craft's destruction but Conroy locates a curious diamond-like Moon rock, which he keeps as a souvenir.

However, when Conroy re-enters the Control Sphere on Moonbase he hallucinates that there are three Mexican bandits there. He starts to fight the bandits, unaware that he is actually fighting Nina Barry and other Moonbase operatives. Barry sets off an alarm but Conroy shoots and kills Dale. A search is ordered and Conroy is killed in the ensuing gun fight.

Straker investigates Conroy's strange behaviour but can find nothing to explain it; the only connection Straker can make is that Conroy had an interest in the Old West and wrote Westerns in his spare time. Conroy's personal effects are returned to SHADO headquarters where they are sorted by Capt. "Beaver" James, a much admired retired astronaut. Upon touching Conroy's moon rock James also falls under its control and believes that SHADO HQ has been invaded by aliens: he gains possession of a guard's gun and starts shooting everyone he sees. James is subsequently killed after taking Col. Lake hostage: tragically James' gun was out of ammunition and had the guards known this, he could have been taken alive.

The moon rock is still on Straker's desk and he picks it up instead of the glass paperweight he usually holds from habit during discussions in his office. Straker gets into an argument with Henderson over funding but just as the situation becomes heated, a film director shouts 'Cut' and Straker finds himself as an actor on a set. Straker wanders the film sets, which include the Moonbase control desk and Skydiver's Command And Control Centre. He returns to the set representing his office and the argument with Henderson continues. But in the heat of the moment he throws Conroy's moon rock against the wall, shattering it and eliminating its influence on him. Straker realises that the rock caused hallucinations in anyone who touched it and the UFO's destruction near Moonbase was in order to plant the rock on the surface. [4]

Regular cast

Production

The episode features scenes from two previous episodes: "Identified" and "A Question of Priorities". During the hallucinations suffered by Straker the 'actors' use their real names when talking to each other. In the movie studio filming sequence Sylvia Anderson has a cameo reading prompts and is referred to on screen by her first name. [5] The scenes of Straker's hallucinations blur the barrier between the "reality" of the UFO universe and the viewer's reality, effectively breaking the fourth wall. [6]

Reception

John Kenneth Muir praises the episode, writing that it "works so well" both as a "literal narrative" about an alien trap, and as a metafiction about film and TV production. He interprets the Wild West scenes as a homage to the cinematography and music of the Dollars Trilogy and other Spaghetti Westerns. Muir concludes that the episode "plays beautifully with form and anticipates our every reaction," adding that while self-reflexive television is often played for comedy, episodes like this "[make] us ask important questions about what is real life and what is fantasy." [7]

Ranking "Mindbender" the fourth-best episode of UFO, review website anorakzone.com comments that the "odd, vaguely Prisoner -esque" story manages its "meta/fourth wall-breaking content [...] with a real sense of style." [6]

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"E.S.P." is the sixth episode aired of the first series of UFO, a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. Alan Fennell wrote the screenplay and it was directed by Ken Turner. The episode was filmed between 23 October and 4 November 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands network on 21 October 1970. Though shown as the sixth episode, it was actually the fifteenth to have been filmed.

"Sub-Smash" is the eighth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written Alan Fennell and the director was David Lane. The episode was filmed between 18 November and 28 November 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 11 November 1970. Though shown as the seventh episode, it was actually the seventeenth to have been filmed.

"Destruction" is the ninth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Dennis Spooner and the director was Ken Turner. The episode was filmed between 4 June and 16 June 1970 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 2 December 1970. Though shown as the ninth episode, it was actually the twentieth to have been filmed.

"The Square Triangle" is the tenth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Alan Pattillo and the director was David Lane. The episode was filmed between 3 September and 15 September 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 9 December 1970. Though shown as the ninth episode, it was actually the eleventh to have been filmed.

"Close Up" is the eleventh episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written Tony Barwick and the director was Alan Perry. The episode was filmed between 29 September to 9 October 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 16 December 1970. Though shown as the eleventh episode, it was actually the thirteenth to have been filmed.

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"Survival" is the thirteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written Tony Barwick and the director was Alan Perry. The episode was filmed between 30 June and 10 July 1970 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 30 December 1970. Though shown as the thirteenth episode, it was actually the fourth to have been filmed.

"Flight Path" is the fifteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay, originally entitled "The Sun Always Rises", was written by Ian Scott Stewart and the director was Ken Turner. The episode was filmed between 26 May to 5 June 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 20 January 1971. Though shown as the fifteenth episode, it was actually the third to have been filmed.

"The Man Who Came Back" is the sixteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO, a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Terence Feely and the director was David Lane. The episode was filmed from 17 June to 29 June 1970, and aired on ATV Midlands on 3 February 1971. Though shown as the sixteenth episode, it was actually the twenty-first to have been filmed.

"The Dalotek Affair" is the seventeenth episode aired of the first series of UFO - a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Ruric Powell and the director was Alan Perry. The episode was filmed between 15 July to 25 July 1969 and aired on the ATV Midlands on 10 February 1971. Though shown as the sixteenth episode, it was actually the seventh to have been filmed.

"Timelash" is the eighteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO, a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Terence Feely and the director was Cyril Frankel. The episode was filmed from 24 July to 6 August 1970, and aired on ATV Midlands on 17 February 1971. Though shown as the eighteenth episode, it was actually the twenty-fourth to have been filmed.

"Ordeal" is the nineteenth episode aired of the first series of UFO, a 1970 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth. The screenplay was written by Tony Barwick and the director was Ken Turner. The episode was filmed from 8 August to 20 August 1969, and aired on ATV Midlands on 14 April 1971. Though shown as the nineteenth episode, it was actually the ninth to have been filmed.

References

  1. ↑ "UFO Episode Guide - Mindbender". Fanderson . Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "UFO Characters - Mindbender". SHADO Library. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Underappreciated TV: UFO". Den of Geek . 4 January 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Bentley, Chris (10 January 2003). The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO. Reynolds & Hearn. p. 144. ISBN   978-1903111659.
  5. ↑ 194 – UFO – Mindbender
  6. 1 2 "Worst to Best: Gerry Anderson's UFO". anorakzone.com. September 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  7. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth (14 May 2019). "UFO: 'Mindbender'". reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
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